Contest Update Issues

Contester's Rate Sheet for April 20, 2005

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Contester's Rate Sheet
20 April 2005
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Edited by Ward Silver N0AX
SUMMARY
o New CW Sprint plus Florida and Nebraska QSO Parties
o Helvetia Contest and Meteor Scatter Rally
o NCJ News by K9LA
o Phone Sweepstakes and ARRL 160-Meter Write-ups
o LB Cebik Antenna Collection on CD-ROM
o Measuring Line Loss
o Portuguese Lesson Returns!
o The Contesting-Internet Hybrid
BULLETINS
o No bulletins this issue
BUSTED QSOS
o A golden issue last time!
ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES FOR 20 APRIL TO 3 MAY 2005
Logs are due for the following contests:
Late-breaking news: QRP ARCI logs go to va3jff@yahoo.ca (Thanks, Jim
W4QO)
April 21 - SARL 80m QSO Party, email logs to: admin@sarl.org.za, paper
logs and diskettes to: The Contest Committee, PO Box 1721,
Strubensvallei 1735, South Africa
April 24 - EU Spring Sprint, SSB, email logs to: eusprint@kkn.net,
paper logs and diskettes to: Dave Lawley, G4BUO, Carramore,
Coldharbour Road, Penshurst, Kent TN11 8EX, England
April 24 - CLARA and Family HF Contest, email logs to: ve7vpe@rac.ca,
paper logs and diskettes to: Paulette Schouten, VE7VPE, 11426 - 144A
Street, Surrey, BC V3R 7C8, Canada
April 26 - Spring QRP Homebrewer Sprint, email logs to: n2cq@arrl.net,
paper logs and diskettes to: Ken Newman, N2CQ, 81 Holly Drive,
Woodbury, NJ 08096, USA
April 27 - Low Power Spring Sprint, email logs to: om3kfv@zoznam.sk,
paper logs and diskettes to: Radioklub OM3KFV, PO Box 3, 038 61
Vrutky, Slovakia
April 30 - CZEBRIS Contest, email logs to: (UK Logs) g3xjs@gqrp.com,
(Other Logs) karel.line@seznam.cz, paper logs and diskettes to: (UK
Logs) G3XJS,Peter Barville, 40 Watchet Lane, Holmer Green, High
Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP15 6UG, United Kingdom, (Other Logs)
OK1AIJ, Karel Behounek, Na sancich 1181, 537 05 Chrudim IV, Czech
Republic
April 30 - Oklahoma QSO Party, email logs to: logs@okdxa.org, paper
logs and diskettes to: Oklahoma QSO Party, OK DX Association, PO Box
2591, Claremore, OK 74018-2591, USA
April 30 - SP DX Contest, email logs to: spdxc-logs@pzk.org.pl, paper
logs and diskettes to: Polski Zwiazek Krotkofalowcow, SPDX Contest
Committee, PO Box 320, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
April 30 - ARLHS Annual Spring Lites QSO Party, email logs to: (none),
paper logs and diskettes to: Dave Ruch, NF0J, PO Box 20696,
Bloomington, MN 55420-0696, USA
May 1 - CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB, email logs to: ssb@cqwpx.com, paper
logs and diskettes to: SSB WPX Contest, CQ Magazine, 25 Newbridge Rd,
Suite 405, Hicksville NY 11801, USA
May 1 - UBA Spring Contest, SSB, email logs to: ubaspring@uba.be,
paper logs and diskettes to: Lode Kenens ON6KL, Oudestraat 8, B-3560
Lummen, Belgium
May 1 - BARTG Spring RTTY Contest, email logs to:
ska@bartg.demon.co.uk, paper logs and diskettes to: (none)
May 1 - EU Spring Sprint, CW, email logs to: eusprint@kkn.net, paper
logs and diskettes to: Hrvoje Horvat, 9A6XX, 25 Rujan 4, HR-52000
Pazin, Croatia
May 2 - 144 MHz Spring Sprint, email logs to: springsprints@etdxa.org,
paper logs and diskettes to: 144 MHz Spring Sprint, ETDXA/WU4O, Jeff J
Baker, 2012 Hinds Creek Road, Heiskell, Tennessee 37754, USA
May 2 - Kids Roundup, email logs to: ki3ds@ki3ds.org, paper logs and
diskettes to: AARC, Jr, 7901 Pepperbox Lane, Pasadena, MD 21122-6328,
USA
May 3 - Missouri QSO Party, email logs to: n0aj@arrl.net, paper logs
and diskettes to: N0AJ, James L Kinser, 2147 Encino Drive, Florissant,
MO 63031-7627, USA
May 3 - QCWA Spring QSO Party, email logs to: w2od@aol.com, paper logs
and diskettes to: W2OD, Robert Buus, 8 Donner Street, HOLMDEL N.J.
07733-2004, USA
The following contests are scheduled:
Note that the following abbreviations are used to condense the contest
rules summaries:
SO - Single-Op; M2 - Multi-Op - 2 Transmitters; MO - Multi-Op; MS -
Multi-Op, Single Transmitter; MM - Multi-Op, Multiple Transmitters; AB
- All Band; SB - Single Band; S/P/C - State/Province/DXCC Entity; HP -
High Power; LP - Low Power; Entity - DXCC Entity
HF CONTESTS
Florida QSO Party--sponsored by the Florida Contest Group from 1600Z
Apr 23 - 0159Z Apr 24 and 1200Z - 2159Z Apr 24, 20 hours max, work FL
stations. Frequencies (MHz): CW--35 kHz from band edges, Phone--7.260,
14.260, 21.335, and 28.485, no 160 or 80 meters, VHF/UHF. Categories:
SO, MS, MM (one signal per band), Mobile (SO and SO+driver), School
Club, SWL, all categories HP (<150W), LP, or QRP (<5W) and Mixed
Mode/CW/SSB (except MM and SWL). Exchange: RST and FL county or S/P/C.
QSO Points: CW--2 pts, SSB--1 pt. Score: FL stations--QSO points x
S/P/C (W/VE/KH6/KL7 do not count as DXCC entities) x power multiplier;
non-FL stations--QSO points x FL counties x power multiplier. All
multipliers count once per mode. Power multiplier--HP x 1, LP x 2, QRP
x 3. For more information: http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/. Logs due 24
May via the Web log entry page at
http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/flqp_cab.php or to
logs@floridaqsoparty.org (ASCII text or Cabrillo format) or Florida
QSO Party, c/o Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ, 5362 Castleman Dr, Sarasota, FL
34232.
Nebraska QSO Party--CW/SSB/Digital--sponsored by the Heartland DX
Association 1700Z Apr 23 - 1700Z Apr 24. Frequencies (MHz): 160 - 2
meters; CW--1.805 and 35 kHz above band edge, Novices/Technicians--10
kHz above band edge; Phone--1.915, 3.865, 7.265, 14.265, 21.365,
28.465, 146.460. Categories: SO, MS, NE Mobile. Work stations once
per band/mode. Work NE mobile stations again in each county. County
lines count as one QSO with each county. Exchange: RST and NE county
or S/P/C. QSO Points: CW/Digital--2 pts, Phone--1 pt. Score: QSO
Points x S/P/C for NE stations or NE counties (multipliers count once
only) x Power Multiplier (QRP x 3, LP x 2, HP x 1). For additional
information: http://www.qsl.net/hdxa. Logs due no later than May 31 to
nqp@alltel.net or Nebraska QSO Party, c/o Steve Rasmussen N0WY, 312 N
6th Street, Plattsmouth NE 68048-1302.
Helvetia Contest--CW/SSB/Digital--sponsored by Union of Swiss Short
Wave Amateurs (USKA) from 1300Z Apr 23 -- 1259Z Apr 24. Frequencies:
160 -- 10 meters. Categories: SO-Mixed, SO-QRP-Mixed, SO-Digital,
MO-Mixed, MO-Digital, SWL. Exchange: RST and serial number (Swiss
stations add canton abbreviation). QSO Points: 3 pts/QSO. Score: QSO
points x Swiss cantons (Swiss stations also count DXCC entities). For
more information including an overview of the Swiss cantons:
http://www.uska.ch/html/en/index_e.htm. Logs due 31 days after the
contest to contest@uska.ch or paper logs with less than 100 QSOs to
Dominik Bugmann, HB9CZF, Zuerichstrasse 104a, 8123 Ebmatingen,
Switzerland.
DXColombia International Contest--Phone/CW, sponsored by DX Colombia,
from 0000Z Apr 23 - 0000Z Apr 25. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters.
Categories: SOAB, SOSB, MS, MM. Exchanges: RS(T) + serial number. QSO
Points: 1 pt/QSO. Score: QSO Points x HK Call Areas counted once per
band. For more information: http://www.dxcolombia.com/contest.htm.
Logs due Sep 24 to dxcolombia@costa.net.co or Transversal 56 #22-107,
Bosque, Cartagena, Colombia.
FISTS/EUCW CW QRS Contest--sponsored by AGCW and FISTS, from 0001Z Apr
24 - 2359Z 30 Apr. Frequencies: 160 - 10 meters. Categories: EUCW
members, A (>5W), B (<5 W), C non-members, SWL. Exchange: RST, QTH,
Name, Club & member number or "NM." Max. CW speed 14 wpm. QSO Points:
own country--1 pt, non-EU country--2 pts, EU country--3 pts. Score:
QSO points x EUCW club worked per day and per band. For more
information: http://www.agcw.de/eucw/euqrs.html. Logs due May 31 to
bobm5agl@btopenworld.com or FISTS/EUCW Contest Manager, R. Kimpton
M5AGL, 15a Buckden Road, Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambs. PE28 4PR.
England.
May CW Sprint, Sponsored by N4AF from 0000 - 0400Z May 1. Frequencies:
80 - 20 meters. Categories: SO-LP (< 100 W) or SO-QRP (< 5 W). For
exchange, QSY, and scoring rules, see
http://ncjweb.com/sprintrules.php. Logs in Cabrillo format due 7 days
after the contest to n4af@contesting.com.
VHF+ CONTESTS
2GHz and Up World Wide Club Contest--sponsored by the San Bernardino
Microwave Society, from 6 AM local Apr 30 - 12 midnight May 1, operate
24 hours max. Frequencies: Categories: Small, Medium, Large.
Exchange: 6-character grid locator. QSO Points: 100 pts for each
unique call sign per band. Distance Points: 1 pt/km. Score: QSO +
Distance points x Pwr multiplier (<5 mW x 3, <5 W x 2, >5 W x 1)
calculated per band, sum scores from all bands. For more information:
http://www.ham-radio.com/sbms/. Logs due 30 days after the contest to
SBMS Contest Committee, Pat Coker N6RMJ, 40916 179th Street, Lancaster
CA 93535.
North American Spring Meteor Scatter Rally - sponsored by the WSJT
Group from 0000Z Apr 30 and ends 0700Z May 9 during the annual Eta
Acquarids meteor shower. Please note that the annual Eta Acquarids is
a morning shower, the radiant being in a good position from about 0500
to 1200 local time. For more information about operating meteor
scatter as well as contest information:
http://www.ykc.com/wa5ufh/Rally/NAHSMS.htm.
NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES
NCJ News by Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA - The May/June NCJ is at the
printer and should be arriving in the mail around the end of the
month. In addition to the articles mentioned in the March 9
Contester's Rate Sheet, the May/June issue has the story of one
individual's transition from DXer to contester, Part 3 of K3LC's study
of buried radials versus elevated radials (he takes a look at the one
and two radial case), a short description of HA5IW's great QRP effort
in the IARU contest, a info-packed feature looking at the past 10
years of the California QSO Party, a quick look at how logging errors
can creep up on you, and a tribute to W7RM. This issue also has
regular columns from N4ZR, K9LA, W9XT, W6WRT, N0JK, K4ZA, and K5AF,
along with the results of the August 2004 NAQP SSB contest.
September VHF Sweepstakes certificates have been printed and mailed as
have all Sweepstakes pins and mugs. The January VHF results were
received from the log checker. (Thanks, Dan N1ND)
A sad note was received just as the Rate Sheet was about to be posted.
Tom K8AZ relayed the news that Bruce Knox W8GN, died unexpectedly at
age 49 on March 31 from a pulmonary embolism. Bruce was the President
and founder of RF Applications, MD Telecom, Sirius Technologies and
several other technology-based companies. He was an active contester,
frequent participant in K8AZ multi-op efforts, and always a top
finisher in the California QSO Party. Bruce designed and built many of
the K8AZ station antennas and systems. Sadly, another bright light in
the amateur contesting committee has been extinguished long before its
time.
Right on schedule, the final Rules for WRTC2006 have been posted as of
March 31st. You can download the complete PDF file at
http://www.wrtc2006.com/ingles/ruleswrtc2006Vfinal.pdf. Selection
criteria are going to be announced on April 30th. (Thanks, Oms PY5EG)
The FCC has granted a license for a new, common carrier, class 1A CW
coast station to the Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS), the
group that brought ex-RCA coast station KPH back to life. This is the
first time in many years that the FCC has granted a new license for
this service. The hours of operation for the station have not yet
been determined, but the call is KSM and frequencies of operation will
be 426, 500, 6474 and 12993 kHz with an authorized output of 5kW on
all frequencies. (Reproduced courtesy of EMCOMM MONTHLY -
http://www.emcomm.org/ - and the Maritime Radio Historical Society -
http://www.radiomarine.org/)
Antenna modelers will be delighted to hear that ALL 13 of LB Cebik's
books are available on a single CD-ROM - "Antennas and Antenna
Modeling: The Works". The package includes more than 3600 pages of
text, illustrations, computer models and program listings. Three
volumes of notes on antenna modeling with NEC and MININEC are also
included. The CD-ROM is published by antenneX at
http://www.antennex.com/announcements.htm.
Effective March 1st, American and Continental Airlines (there may be
others) lowered the allowed checked baggage weight limit from 70 to 50
lbs. Apparently, you can still take up to 70 lbs but should be
prepared to pay additional fees; approximately $25 for up to 70 lbs.
DXpeditioners should check with their airlines for applicable limits
and fee schedules. (Thanks, John W2GD/P40W)
RoverLog 2_2_0 has been released by the author, Tom Mayo, N1MU.
RoverLog is for contests on VHF and higher bands. Among other things,
this release includes K1EL WinKey support for real-time CW keying and
the ability to pass microphone audio through the PC when not using the
voice keyer. For more information about RoverLog point your browser at
http://roverlog.2ub.org/.
At the Visalia DX Convention I found a neat new product from Radiodan,
the RD-90M board that turns the Bird 43 wattmeter into a peak reading
meter. This is very handy for phone operation where the average power
is far below the peaks. The price is right, $79, so check it out at
http://radiodan.com/bird. Radiodan is also a great source for used
and reconditioned Bird equipment.
Elecraft (http://www.elecraft.com/) has released a new QRP auto-tuner
for transmitters up to 20 watts out. It weighs just 5 ounces -
perfect for mountaintopping. A remote-control option is available for
working with the Yaesu FT-817. It includes all of the expected
auto-tuner features, such as tuning in any mode and plenty of
memories. The kit version is priced at $135.
Bob K9SQL wrote to say that on the Web site mentioned last week with
state scanner laws can also be found a copy of the FCC ruling
declaring that all state and local laws restricting or prohibiting the
use of amateur transceivers are pre-empted by Federal law. The
document is located at
http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/laws/scanner/pr_91-36-moo.html.
(This applies ONLY to transceivers.) A PDF version is also available
on the ARRL Web site at
http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/pr91-36/pr91-36.pdf. This
would be a good thing to keep with your mobile station - and be sure
to have a copy of your ham ticket, too!
Joe G3ZCZ/VK5WU has released CQ-SS, a reasonably realistic contest
simulation based on probability of propagation to a section based on 4
hours blocks of the day and number of stations in that section. Joe
based the game on his operating the 1977 Sweepstakes from Silver
Spring, MD. This game can be used for training and strategy
determination. The Lite version of the software is free and can be
downloaded from http://users.chariot.net.au/~g3zcz/CQSS.htm.
Super-Check-Partial database file guru, Randy K5ZD, is looking for
logs in all the wrong places. He needs logs from the following
contests (any mode) to create the next set of SCP database files: CQ
WW, CQ WPX, CQ 160M, ARRL DX, ARRL Sweepstakes, ARRL RTTY Roundup,
ARRL 10M, ARRL 160M, IARU Radiosport, Russian DX Contest, and Worked
All Europe. Send him the same Cabrillo format log that you submitted
to the contest sponsor. The next version of the SCP files will be
released in mid May before WPX CW. More info on SCP files can be found
at http://www.k5zd.com/scp.
Although somewhat outside the mainstream areas of VHF+ contesting, the
Pacific NW is home to some excellent stations, particularly rovers.
Undisputed King of the NW Rovers is the four-operating-position
Enterprise II, captained by Eric KB7DQH. Definitely Warp Factor 9
capable. View the Enterprise II and other ambulatory denizens of the
soggy Upper Left Coast on N7CFO's Rover page
http://pw1.netcom.com/~n7cfo/rrigs/rrigs.htm.
Logs for the 8Q7DV can be found at http://dx.qsl.net/ and pictures of
the March 2005 operation with short comments are available at
http://www.fotki.com/8q7dv. (Thanks, Igor UA9CDC)
The Portuguese lesson got lost in the shuffle over the past couple of
issues - sorry about that! From the Lonely Planet "Western European
Phrasebook" we learn words of the here and now:
Today - hoje - "O-zh"
This Morning - hoje de manha - "O-zh d'ma-NYA"
Tonight - hoje a noite - "O-zh ah NOY-t"
This Week - esta semana - "EHSH-ta s'MA-na"
This Year - este ano - "ESH-ty A-nu"
Now - agora - "a-GOH-ra"
RESULTS AND RECORDS
The complete list of Logs Received for the 2005 ARRL International DX
Phone Contest has been posted at http://www.arrl.org/contests/claimed.
This includes both electronic and paper submissions. If you find an
error with your listing please contact N1ND at n1nd@arrl.org or by
phone at 860-594-0232. If you submitted electronically, please have
your receipt number available.
The results write-ups for the ARRL 160-Meter (by Ford N0FP) and 2004
November Phone Sweepstakes (by Kelly VE4XT) contests have been posted
on the ARRL Web site at http://www.arrl.org/contests/results.
Top-band contesters will really enjoy Ford's write-up, maybe the best
ever for this particular contest! Lots of new tables, excellent
sidebars, and divisional discussion. Kelly's managed to get K6VVA to
tell the tale of his microphone-less phone contesting. How did he do
it?
The results of the 2004 Ohio QSO Party are now posted at
http://www.oqp.us/. Congratulations to Ohio winners K8AJS, K8BL, N8IE,
N8HR, W8B, K8BB and K8RYU. Out of state winners include N4PN, N9JF,
WA4PGM and K1TTT. The really out-of-state DX winner is SP4JWR.
(Thanks, Jim K8MR)
The results of the 2005 Minnesota QSO Party are now available by
following the links at: http://www.w0aa.org/. Also available this year
is a log analysis report, available to any entrant who submitted an
electronic log. Please send an e-mail request to wa0mhj at
arrl-dot-net. Put "UBN Request" in the subject
line. (Thanks, Mark, WA0MHJ)
The 2005 JIDX CW contest results are now available at
http://jidx.org/2005cw-loglist.html. If you can not find your log
entry on the list please contact jidx-chairman@jidx.org. The list is
updated manually almost every day. (Thanks, Tack JE1CKA/KH0AM)
2004 CQ-MIR results are now downloadable at
http://www.srr.ru/CONTEST/cq_m_4_pr2.pdf. There is a summary in
Russian, but the callsign tables use the English alphabet -
http://www.srr.ru/CONTEST/cq_m_4_proto.php. (Thanks, Mike UA9CIR)
TECHNICAL
In many electric fence noise cases, the culprits are poor splices and
gate hooks. It can be quite evident that the sparking will eat through
the fence wire, letting the horses get out. If this sounds familiar,
take a look at the Electric Fence Interference section at
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfigen.html. There is a QST article that
you can download. The neighbor was described as was very cooperative,
so the article is one hams can show to the owners of electric fences
to help secure cooperation. (Thanks, Ed W1RFI)
From John W0UN regarding the required grade of bolts for tower
assembly, "Grade is really only the hardness/strength of the bolt and
does not imply thread length or shoulder. Rohn has always used Grade 5
bolts and in recent years they just specify the SAE NF (fine thread)
for their bolts on Rohn 25 and SAE NC (coarse thread) for Rohn 45.
These are NOT the hot dipped bolts of yore, but the standard auto
grade plated bolts from auto-parts stores. Standard SAE bolts are
Grade 5." (Thanks, Ken K0PP)
Here's an easy procedure to make a good approximation of line loss,
without disconnecting the coax up on the tower:
1. Connect an antenna analyzer to the feedline in the shack.
2. With the analyzer in swr mode, vary the frequency, observing where
the SWR goes through maxima and minima. Pick one of the maxima, in the
vicinity of 25 - 30 MHz, noting the SWR and frequency. At that point,
the antenna up on the tower presents such an extreme impedance that
you are essentially measuring the SWR on an unterminated line.
3. Plug the observed maximum SWR into the following equation:
loss (dB) = 10 log [(SWR+1)/(SWR-1)]
By staying at the high end of the analyzer's frequency range where the
SWR maxima have lower values, the effect of imprecision is reduced
somewhat. (Thanks, Dave K6LL)
From the ARRL Propagation Bulletin by K7RA, the WA4TTK Solar Data
Plotting Utility is freeware by Scott Craig. Download the software at
http://www.craigcentral.com/mystuff.asp. The program can update by
automatically grabbing the sunspot and solar flux data from a text
file version of this bulletin, or it can download the data from ARRL
servers over the net. (Thanks, Tad K7RA)
Most contesters use the PC to send their CW during contests. What
about between contests? A number of non-contest logging programs have
a feature that sends CW from the PC keyboard. K1EL
(http://www.k1el.com/) makes the nifty K40 kit that turns a standard
PS/2 keyboard into a keyer directly, without requiring a host program
- it's completely standalone. Monty N5ESE built the K40 circuit board
into a surplus keyboard as described at
http://www.io.com/~n5fc/kb.htm. K1EL offers several other handy kits,
including the WinKeyer that bypasses many of the timing difficulties
associated with the use of PC serial ports for keying. (Thanks, Monty
N5ESE)
While you're at it, browse through the list of products for DXers and
contesters made by microHAM at http://www.microham.com/. The
microKEYER is a new product for digital mode operating that uses the
PC USB port instead of an RS-232 port.
Another weapon in the eternal battle between ham and tree limb is the
arborist's throw bag. Basically, it's one pound of lead shot in a
heavy nylon bag with steel ring on top that attaches to 150 feet of
braided polypropylene "slick" line. The line is placed in a lazy coil
in a 3-lb coffee can. John N1OLO reports that, "with practice you can
throw the bag up 75 to 80 feet with accuracy. There is a large
slingshot like launcher available that can launch the bag up to
150'."
Here's where to find those metal Slinky toys for making Beverage
antennas: http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/slinkytoys/catalog.asp.
(Thanks, Rick KC8AON)
CONVERSATION
The Contesting-Internet Hybrid
At the recent Visalia DX Convention, I was the host of the annual
Contest Forum program - a one-hour ramble through various topics of
contesting interest by a panel of recognized expert contesters.
Having hosted the forum before, I thought it would be fun to have
panelists that brought a DX perspective to the topic. After all, this
was a DX convention! My entreaties successfully lured Paolo I2UIY,
Roger G3SXW, and John W2GD/P40W to the dais.
Subjects relating to digital communications technology figured in all
three of the questions generated by the panelists. I2UIY discussed the
policing of self-spotting as highlighted by K1TTT's analyses and
tracing of IP addresses on the CQ-Contest reflector. W2GD/P40W took
the DX view on the desirability of frequent spotting and "packet
pileups." G3SXW asked when contest sponsors would start requiring
shorter log submission deadlines, partly to discourage "log washing"
before submission.
In the case of Paolo's question, what is to be done about the chronic
self-spotters? First, one must remember that it's not illegal in
every contest and even common above 30 MHz where contests are a very
different beast. Neither was he talking about the operator who is
unaware that the practice may be a rule violation. The culprit in
mind takes active measures to disguise the spots, knowing full well
that it's cheating. K1TTT has developed a process for uncovering the
IP address of the bogus spots so that the real source of the fake
spots is quite clear. Although the exposure has not resulted in a
large number of administrative sanctions, peer pressure is being
applied. Given that one can't be absolutely certain of the infringer's
identity, perhaps this is as far as we can go. There are some
possible technological fixes, but peer pressure of various means is
likely the most reasonable way to attack the practice.
The evolution of tactics was highlighted in the responses to John's
comments about being spotted. Being an excellent operator in search
of high-rate environments, his attitude was essentially, "Bring 'em
on!" Roger's observations on being spotted with the busted call of a
juicy new mult (5V5Z instead of 5U5Z) pointed out the undesirable
aspects. His effective rate plummeted as dupe after dupe went into
the log. He eventually had to QSY and start again. The strategies
being developed on each end of the pileups often avoid spot-driven
behavior. I.e. - tuning up and down the band. Imagine that! It's
interesting that the success of the spotting network is driving
competitive operators outside it in search of the advantage that
spotting once conveyed to connected stations.
Finally, Roger pointed out that the long time delay between the end of
the operating period and the log submission deadline allows and can
even be seen as encouraging the poor practice of "sanitizing" logs.
With the near-ubiquity of electronic log submission, sponsors report
that nearly 90% of logs are uploaded within a day or two. Why allow
four-week or longer submission periods? Indeed! An on-the-spot poll
to select between leaving the deadlines as they are or selecting a
one-week, one-day, or one-hour deadline showed a clear preference for
moving the deadline to one week and a significant fraction for one
day. Perhaps a three-day deadline would work. What about paper logs
and DX-peditions? Exemptions could be pre-arranged, of course, not
after the fact.
All of these questions and issues are driven by the available of cheap
data network bandwidth and cheaper processor power. On reflection,
it's clear that the combination of on-the-air radio skills with
world-wide, high-rate connectivity have created an entirely new type
of contest and contester. Operator and network are now merging into a
single, planetary entity that emerges on the HF bands during contest
weekends. Good or bad, it's definitely changing the face of HF
contesting.
73, Ward N0AX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Contester's Rate Sheet wishes to acknowledge information from the
following sources:
WA7BNM's Contest Calendar Web page -
http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal
ARRL Contest page - http://www.arrl.org/contests
SM3CER's Web site - http://www.sk3bg.se/contest